Springfield nets major basketball tournament

That’s because thousands of basketball players and their coaches and fans will converge for the 18th annual National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships, which now calls Springfield home.

Tournament organizers have signed a contract to bring the event to town March 16–21, 2009, as well as in 2010 and 2011, the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau announced at a news conference this morning.

The event is expected to draw 300 teams comprising 3,000 players and about 600 coaches. Add in parents, fans and other participants, and the CVB anticipates 5,000 could be in town, creating an estimated $3 million windfall for the city. And that’s conservative, according to tournament Executive Director Tim Flatt – he expects as many as 9,000 attendees, based on tournament history.

For all three years, the CVB so far has blocked 13,000 room nights at 31 hotels and motels for the six-day tournament, and organizers are working to secure at least 1,000 more. Combined with normal hotel business at that time of year, the CVB says every hotel could be filled at or near capacity.

The tournament also will use 25 gyms, with Hammons Student Center on the Missouri State University campus at the center of it all.

The tournament previously spent eight years in Oklahoma City, but organizers in June went searching for a new home because it became difficult to secure venues, particularly with the NBA’s recent announcement that the former Seattle SuperSonics would be headed there this year. Organizers approached 10 cities, and the quality of and support from Springfield’s facilities were “head and heels” above the others, Flatt said today.

“We would like to be here forever,” Flatt said.

Compared to Oklahoma City, the move to Springfield is expected to save event-goers about $300,000 on hotel rates and $150,000 on gas because venues are closer together, Flatt said.

Two local teams participate in the tournament: the Southwest Missouri Eagles and the Springfield Knights. Admission to the games is free.